Best Ever Crepes

So it's easy to lump crepes into the class of evil foods (right along with chocolate cake and their ilk). This is mostly because I (and every other normal American human) think it's not really a crepe unless it's slathered in Nutella and dipped in whipped cream. This, of course, is a perfectly acceptable way to eat a crepe. However, there are (gasp) other ways. And they, too, are delicious. And sometimes even (double gasp) nutritious.

For this crepe, I used a good dollop of ricotta and a bit of peach butter, and--not to brag or anything--but it was perfectly divine. The ricotta gave it a creamy feeling while contributing protein and calcium instead of just fat and sugar (sorry whipped cream; you know I love yo anyway). The peach butter was lightly sweet. And the crepe itself is higher in protein than a normal pancake or muffin. And we use just a smidgen of whole grains in ours to help it along the path of virtue.

It makes for an inexpensive breakfast and a downright tightwad dinner. The crepes themselves run about $.10/crepe and I cannot eat more than two if they're filled (if not, all bets are off). And the fillings don't have to be expensive. A few tablespoons of ricotta add another $.25 and the peach butter is probably just $.10 (plus a lot of love to make that stuff). That's a solid meal for $.50 (though it is missing vegetables...)

(Psst. Want homemade recipes for either of these. Look HERE for a perfectly divine (and utterly cheap) ricotta. And HERE for peach butter so good you know it's made from love and sunshine (which it is).)

Have a look HERE for my original post on crepes plus a filling of brown sugar peaches. (Plus a pretty profound poem if I do say so myself; I mean, you won't want to miss it.)
Or HERE for a pumpkin whole wheat version.

Best Ever Crepes
Makes: a booty load (I'm guessing it makes between 20-30 crepes; we always have leftovers)
Prep and cook time: 30 minutes
Cost: $2.05 (that's about $.10/serving; even if you do splurge on Nutella, that's a VERY cheap meal)
(eggs: .50, milk: .60, flour: .30, other stuff: .15, butter: .50)

Note: These directions are given to you as Maren gave them to me. I always make mine this way with an extra cup of milk added at the end. Would it matter if you added it at the beginning? I don't know. I just do it as she said because hers were the best and I don't mess with that.

Whisk together:
4 eggs
3 C milk

Combine:
2 Tbsp sugar
3 C flour (I use 1/2 C whole wheat and 2 1/2 C all-purpose)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Add dry mixture to egg/milk mixture.

To this batter, add:
1 C milk
1 tsp vanilla

Whisk it all together. It might be a little lumpy at first, but whisk for a minute or two and most will go away. If you still have some lumps when you make the crepes, don't worry, the crepes will still come out just fine.

Heat skillet to medium or just below. Plop a pat of butter on the skillet. You want your skillet nice and non-sticky--whether that happens with plenty of butter or with a good non-stick pan is up to you. Pour the batter onto the skillet and tilt the skillet so that the entire face of the skillet is covered with a thin layer of batter. It won't be thick like a pancake, or even close. It'll look like this:

Now you're going to let the crepe cook until there it's kind of cooked all the way through--there won't be any (or much) raw batter-y patches left and it will be just barely golden brown on the bottom (it takes 1-2 minutes usually). If it's not done enough you'll have a really really hard time flipping this baby. At this point you'll flip it over to give the other side a chance to color just a bit. I think that authentic French crepe makers don't always even flip theirs, but I like to.

Continue this process until you're done. If you've got too much batter, you can save it as batter or you can make it all into crepes. They reheat very well.

Note: Your first crepe will probably be a disaster. I don't know why this is a law of the universe, but it is. I suspect that your pan is still warming up and stuff. Anyway, if your first crepe tears and crumples and looks a mess, do not despair. Set it aside for the baby or the dog, re-butter your pan and do it again. I promise that the next will (almost surely) be much much better. If it discourages you too much, dip some in Nutella and eat it. That should make you feel much better about the world.

Another note: If, however, your crepe is burned on the bottom, turn down the heat and wait a couple minutes before continuing.

Continue making and flipping until you have crepes coming out of you ears. 

Then eat. 

PRINTABLE RECIPE